Error: External table isn't in expected format (due to unrecognized data).
Error:
External table isn't in the expected format.
Cause:
This error occurs when importing a delimited text file, and is because the first record in the delimited text file contains data in a format that Access 7.0 cannot recognize. For example, if the field separator of the first record is incorrect or missing, the error message displays.
Solution:
Open the file in a text editor, and change the data to a format that Access 7.0 can recognize.
1) Locate and open the file in a text editor:
a) Open Windows Explorer:
1] Click 'Start' todisplay the Windows 'Start' menu.
2] Select 'Programs' from the menu. (A submenu appears.)
3] Select 'Windows Explorer' from the submenu. (The Exploring window appears.)
b) In the 'Exploring' window, locate the text file:
1] Select the drive where the file is located.
2] Select the folder that contains the file. (The file appears in the Exploring window.)
NOTE: If the file is in a subfolder, continue selecting folders until the file is displayed.
c) Double-click on the text file. (The file opens in Notepad.)
NOTE: If the size of the file is larger than 64K, a message displays stating that the file is too large for Notepad to open and asking whether to use WordPad to open it.
d) (Special Case) Click 'Yes' to open the file in WordPad.
2) Make the necessary changes to the first record.
3) Select the 'File' menu and select 'Save' to save the changes.
4) Select the 'File' menu and select 'Exit' to close the file and exit Notepad or WordPad.
